The Hook
by The Bard of Essendra
Summary: A chance meeting between two unlikely beings. Just because they both agreed it would be a one night stand and not to get attached doesn't mean they can follow through with that promise. Crack-couple of Renzen and Sten.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: We do not own Pokémon. We do own the original characters and the story line.

Written by: Akai Shi-Koret

AN: Neither of these characters has appeared in the main RP yet but their personalities are pretty much true to form. This is NOT canon. This is sheer crack. There's no way that Ren would ever consider hooking up with Sten in ANY universe. I don't write maleXmale fics so if this sucks then I'm sorry. This was inspired by the scene from _Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann_ where Leeron tries to convince Kamina to sleep with him.

Dedicated to: Kenocka, for the lulz.

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><p>The Hook wasn't the most upscale bar in Bytharceos. It was located in a dark alleyway, light filtering dimly through the grimy windows and leaking through the various holes that years of decay and bar fights had left in its walls. It was owned by an ancient Sandslash and his daughter, who had kept the beer flowing and the bar more or less clean since before anyone cared to remember. The clientele was mostly of the seedy underbelly of the city, the riffraff, scum and losers that fell through the cracks. Fights were common in the bar, but seldom resulted in anything more than a broken nose owing to the fact that nobody wanted the proprietor to kick them out for good. A small band typically occupied one corner of the joint, playing on secondhand instrument and making the bar feel slightly more fancy than usual, which wasn't saying much.<p>

All in all, Renzen had yet to find a better place to unwind.

He sat at the bar, perched atop a spindly stool that looked as though it could barely hold his weight as he aimlessly fingered his beer bottle. Despite his reputation as a hunter allowing him to visit more classy establishments, the Krookodile always came back to the Hook night after night to soothe his tensions with liberal amounts of alcohol. He enjoyed the ambience here far more than in other bars, enjoyed the earthiness of the place and the simple down-to-earth nature of the other customers. So long as they didn't bother him, he didn't bother them - an unspoken rule that had been in place ever since his first visit where he'd had to break the arm of a man who'd been stupid enough to try and start a fight.

Despite all of this, Renzen found himself to be rather disconsolate on this night. He'd been mulling over the strange, empty feeling for the better part of an hour now, helped along by several drinks, but had yet to figure out why. He sighed deeply, leaning forward on the bar while staring into space.

"Hello there," a sultry voice said from somewhere behind him, smooth as velvet. "Do I know you?" Renzen turned slowly, glancing over his glasses at the newcomer.

"I highly doubt you do," he said shortly while giving the man a once-over. He was clearly a Cacturne, with long black hair and spikes of greenish-black tint running through his skin. His eyes were unreadable, but glittered in the dim light as they took in Renzen's face. Renzen for his part couldn't guess why he was here. _'__It's not like I've been trying to be social here_._'_

His lips curled up in a small smile at the hunter's words. "Oh come now, I _must _have heard of you from somewhere. Do you come here often?"

Renzen debated lying for a second before shrugging his shoulders. "Often enough," he said, deciding that it was a sufficiently mixed answer. "Look, do you need something?" He always got slightly irritated when someone interrupted his brooding sessions.

The newcomer shrugged as well, the smile growing slightly wider at Renzen's obvious consternation. "Well yes, but let's talk about you," he said, taking a seat next to Renzen and gesturing to the bartender with a flourish. "A name would be useful, hmm?"

"Renzen," the hunter replied shortly. He wasn't going to bother asking for the man's name, though given his personality thus far -

"Sten," his conversational partner said with a broad smile. "I'd tell you my full name, but that would take far too long and you'd never get the hang of it." He was distracted momentarily by the arrival of the bartender, who placed a pair of beers in front of him. "Now, what did you say you did for a living again?" he asked, sliding one of the bottles over to Renzen.

"I didn't," the hunter replied, eyeing the beer suspiciously. "What's this?" he asked, giving the Cacturne a quizzical look.

Sten laughed, a low, velvety sound. "I just thought I should buy you a drink, seeing as yours is almost empty," he said. "It's not like I have anything better to spend the money on. Don't worry about it." Renzen eyed it dubiously, causing Sten to laugh again. "It's not going to hurt you, go ahead," the Cacturne replied. "I don't think I've ever met a man as paranoid as yourself."

"There's a reason for that," Renzen replied, taking a swig of the liquid. Something was off about this whole conversation. He had a sneaking suspicious that his new "friend" wasn't interested in him just for the conversation. "So then, why don't you help me out by telling me why you're still talking to me?" He gazed at Sten intensely, not-so-subtly hinting that he was done with this intrigue.

Sten glanced back with feigned affront in his eyes. "Do you suspect me of having ulterior motives?" he asked innocently. "I promise you, my only purpose here is to share my company with a fellow bar-goer. Besides, a loner like yourself clearly needed someone to talk to." His eyes glittered mischievously at the words. "We can go elsewhere if you're uncomfortable talking here," he suggested, false innocence still lingering in his words.

In a flash, it became clear to Renzen. He managed to keep from blushing, but just by the merest of margins. As it was, he inhaled a bit of his drink, causing him to cough loudly. "I'll have you know, I'm not interested in... your type," he said delicately when his fit of hacking was over.

Sten pretended to look hurt this time. "But all I've done is try to help," he said in an injured tone. "Besides," he said softly, so as to keep others from hearing, "you never know. It might feel good, to be with someone on those long, cold nights."

Renzen glared back. "I'm straight. End of story." He knocked back the bottle again, trying to finish his drink and get out. This was getting out of hand.

"So are noodles, until they get hot," Sten said in his velvety low voice, a single finger lightly stroking the back of Renzen's hand. "How do you know until you've tried it?"

"Trust me, I know," the hunter responded, whipping his hand up from its resting place on the bar and stowing it deep in his jacket pocket. "Thanks for the beer, but I'll be going now." He stood, tossing an extra few coins on the bar as a tip and walking swiftly for the door. He barged through the wooden portal, turning and moving down the streets for the flat above his office. _'__What a mess,'_ he thought to himself. _'__It's ironic, really. The only one who'll have me is a gay guy.'_ The thought did not cheer him in the slightest and he shook his head, focusing on the things he _could_ control. _'__Guess I'll need to find another bar from now on.__'_

"Just this once," Sten's voice came from behind Renzen, a single hand softly falling on his shoulder. "Please?"

Renzen whipped around, mentally cursing. _'__Why the hell is he following me?'_ "Are you _that _desperate?" he asked angrily. "Why are you so into me?"

Sten stepped closer, his voice floating across the distance like puffs of tobacco smoke. "Because I see something in you that I see in myself as well - we're loners. We have no connections to anyone or anything. All our lives we struggle by, going through the routines of life with no one to watch and with no one who cares. Life itself is a machine that way. And I can tell," he said, looking into Renzen's eyes, "that you hate it. Why not take a chance with a stranger? Why not give yourself an opportunity to be human again, to _feel _for the first time in what must be a long time?"

Renzen stood motionless for several long seconds, meeting Sten's gaze unblinkingly. When he did respond, it was one simple word: "Fine."

Sten smiled again then, the soft smirk sliding onto his face naturally. "Excellent," he said. "Shall we?"

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><p><span>Characters by order of appearance:<span>

Renzen Krok, the Krookodile Essendran - Akai Shi-Koret

Sten, the Cacturne Essendran - Akai Shi-Koret (created by Kenocka)


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: We do not own Pokémon. We do own the original characters and the story line.

Written by: Kenocka

AN: Neither of these characters has appeared in the main RP yet but their personalities are pretty much true to form. This is NOT canon. This is sheer crack. There's no way that Ren would ever consider hooking up with Sten in ANY universe. Sten might consider hooking up with Renzen though. 8D

The only reason this is being written is because I have a Prompt Me! thread in the guild and Akai's challenged me to write a crack StenXRen story so here I go! Woot for round robins!

Dedicated to: Akai, because you challenged me to do it and dammit I'ma do it! 8D

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><p>Sten had no idea what to call the thing going on between himself and Renzen. Their first night together was supposed to be their last and the Cacturne had no issues with that and neither did the Krookodile. They had their fun and fill of one another and Sten was gone without so much as a note goodbye before dawn. Both had made it clear that a one-night stand was all that it was going to be and Sten found that a disappearing act before his partner woke up remedied any romantic inclinations the other might have developed during the night's play. He hadn't known and no one had bothered to warn him beforehand that his particular partner that night was a detective and damn good at finding whoever he needed to even if there were no real clues as to his quarry's identity. He'd only given him his first name not his address!<p>

That hadn't stopped the man from dropping a messily written letter into Sten's mailbox. He'd finally opened the letter after a week of it sitting untouched on his nightstand. It had no return address on it, just two words in a messy but to the point jumble on the envelope: From Renzen. The handwriting inside was no neater and at some parts barely legible but it was straightforward and short. The Krookodile hadn't been happy to wake up in a bed colder than the one he'd fallen asleep in and felt insulted for it.

That got a snort out of Sten. He knew emotional attachment no matter how faint or what fronts it tried to put up. The paper in his hands was proof enough never mind the words that tried to say the opposite. The letter said exactly what he'd suspected and expected that it would, even with their prior agreement not to get attached.

The Cacturne had no idea what to do about this situation. He'd never had to deal with a temporary partner trying to speak with him after a one-nighter. Without a return address Sten couldn't respond in kind and he honestly didn't feel a desire to. It would only encourage Renzen to seek him out again. A one-night stand was for scratching an itch you couldn't or wouldn't scratch yourself. It didn't start any relationships with meaning or substance.

Sten decided to ignore it. It was cruel and cold to a man that was obviously struggling with his newfound sexuality even to the Cacturne's pragmatic eyes. He just couldn't think of a way to gently let Renzen down. So he went about his life and routine as if the letter had never even arrived. If Renzen could find his mailbox then he could find Sten. Honestly he hoped that the Krookodile would see how little his words meant, cope with the blow to his pride, and move on with life.

Then Renzen showed up at the restaurant he played host for and he could've run right out of the building without a second thought as to where his next paycheck came from at the look he was given. The Krookodile was meeting a client and gave him a once over before his eyes hardened into a statement of, "We're going to talk later."

Sten's eyes replied the same way, "Don't even try," even as he smiled and went through his shtick with a smile.

Fate had it in for him because Renzen and his client wound up sitting down for an extended dinner and by the time they left his shift was over and he was too damn tired to even really attempt an escape as the Krookodile confronted him outside.

"What the hell?"

"Well this is off to a rousing start. Will punches be thrown or are we just going to have a row right out on the street where everyone can hear and see us," snapped Sten tiredly.

Renzen didn't raise his voice but it did grow more snarled. "All I want to know is why you just disappeared. I know what a one-night stand is about but no one's ever taken off without at least waking me up to say "thanks for the lay" and goodbye."

"Are you honestly this upset because I didn't tell you _goodbye_," Sten hissed. "Really? You didn't seem the type to even _want_ to remember the face of their first homosexual encounter much less get a goodbye out of it."

That seemed to take some of the wind out of the man's sails but a second one had them filled before the Cacturne could breathe a sigh of relief. He tensed as Renzen's fists balled and shook. Sten was trained for speed and could out maneuver most people if he got dragged into a brawl. It didn't seem that it was going to come to that because Renzen took a breath and forcibly calmed himself.

"I don't know. I just wanted an explanation or something!"

"Look kid," because in Sten's mind the only reason for this reaction was youth, "I left to avoid a situation like this from happening. If I'd known that you could find people like you found me then I'd have left you alone."

"Why'd you even bother with me when I told you the first time around that I was straight?"

Arceus above this wasn't going to get any better any time soon was it?

"Because you said no! God damn it! It was just one lay and we _both_ agreed not to do anything stupid like this! You snorted at me when I opened my mouth about it because you were so damn convinced that you'd be just out and out unmoved!" Sten had officially lost the cool confident exterior that drew customers and lovers alike. He blamed being tired from a long day and the unwanted presence of the Krookodile in the restaurant for hours on end. "Here you are though, pissed at me over something as stupid as saying goodbye."

"It's not that! I - " Renzen quieted with an angry huff at the "shut up" hand gesture Sten made.

"I'm too tired to talk about this right now. We can talk about this tomorrow. You know where I live." The Cacturne brushed past the Krookodile and ignored his attempts at communication. The day had been too long for all this drama.

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><p><span>Characters by order of appearance:<span>

Sten, the Cacturne Essendran - Kenocka

Renzen Krok, the Krookodile Essendran – Kenocka (created by Akai Shi-Koret)


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: We do not own Pokémon. We do own the original characters and the story line.

Written by: Akai Shi-Koret

AN: Neither of these characters has appeared in the main RP yet but their personalities are pretty much true to form. This is NOT canon. This is sheer crack. There's no way that Ren would ever consider hooking up with Sten in ANY universe.

Akai's AN: I suck at writing emotional scenes. Any reviews would be appreciated. XD

Dedicated to: Kenocka, for her help and for giving me a boot to the rear to keep working on this. XD

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><p>Renzen was at Sten's door by seven AM, stifling yawns as he waited for a slightly brighter hour to roll around, one in which Sten was hopefully awake. The hunter hadn't been able to sleep the night before, for reasons that he either could not or would not let himself figure out. He'd eventually gotten to sleep, but whether that was simply due to being too tired to stay up any longer or because he got sick of playing out scenarios in his head he couldn't tell either. Even still, anxiety had awakened him early and rather than try fruitlessly to get back to sleep, Renzen had hauled himself out of bed and made for Sten's house, mind clouded with endless iterations of what to say to the other man.<p>

At the moment though, Renzen's head was quite empty of anything except the hope the Cacturne would wake up sometime soon, and perhaps a wish for more coffee. Renzen was many things by nature of his job, but being an early riser usually wasn't one of them. He slumped against the side of a nearby lamppost, dozing slightly in exhaustion. Part of him wanted to wake Sten up right now and deal with issue as soon as possible, but the other was afraid of what might happen as a result. The Krookodile snorted in amusement at the thought. He'd faced down creatures that would make most ordinary humanoids cower in terror without a second thought, but when it came to something like this Renzen was abnormally afraid.

The hunter sat outside for roughly a half-hour, mind racked with indecision and exhaustion, before he finally made up his mind and knocked on the door. He was done waiting around. Even still, it was another five minutes before a half-naked Sten answered the door, dark circles under his eyes and a somewhat annoyed expression on his face that softened somewhat when he saw that it was Renzen. "What are you doing here this early?" he asked, poorly concealed irritation evident in his voice. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

Renzen hesitated for a split second before answering with a shrug. It felt awkward to admit that he'd been up all night worrying about their meeting and couldn't have gone back to sleep had he tried. "Just wondering if you wanted to talk about this over a cup of coffee," he said noncommittally. "I can come back later, if you want."

Sten shook his head. "Forget about it," he said. "Just lemme get a shirt on." He disappeared back into the recesses of the house, returning a minute later fully dressed. "Where we going?"

Renzen indicated the direction with a jerk of his head and the two set off through the mostly empty streets towards a café that the hunter frequented. Renzen had hoped that they'd be able to talk along the way, but Sten seemed content to stay quiet and the Krookodile couldn't think of something to say for the life of him. The silence pervaded the atmosphere between them as the two entered the small shop and placed their orders.

It wasn't until they'd sat down at a dingy table in the corner of the café that Sten finally spoke up. "I- " he began, just before cutting himself off angrily. Renzen waited anxiously, watching Sten's face closely to try and judge his mood. For a long second Sten was silent again, deep in thought. "Look, what did you want to talk about?" he asked finally, slightly exasperated.

It was Renzen's turn to take a moment to think. There were so many things he wanted to say at the moment, but none of which he trusted himself with actually speaking. Instead, the hunter settled for something more simple. "Why did you leave without saying goodbye?" he asked finally, being sure to look straight at Sten intently.

The Cacturne snorted a short, derisive laugh full of exasperation. It showed his age. "I already told you that didn't I? I left without saying anything to avoid this scene specifically. I've played this game for long enough to know that the longer you stay with a temporary lover the more likely you or them are to form some kind of attachment based on hormones."

Renzen frowned, giving Sten a look that was half-glare, half-stare. "Well that's not entirely fair, now is it?" he asked, voice cooling by several degrees. "You could have at least left a note, couldn't you? Was that too much to ask for?"

Sten raised an eyebrow. "We've already covered all this last night," he said, slightly annoyed. "And I still don't see how this is all my fault. You agreed to a one night stand - that means no attachment, no commitment. So why're you expecting that from me?"

"I don't know!" Renzen replied, voice tight with frustration. "I just…" he started, but closed his mouth angrily before he could say anything else. For a long moment the two humanoids sat across from each other in silence as the Krookodile grappled with the emotions that threatened to spiral out of his control. His mind fought desperately to justify his irrational behavior without admitting the truth to Sten, least of all himself, but as the seconds stretched into minutes he found himself with fewer and fewer options. He felt cornered, trapped by the predicament, and with only one way out.

Before he could second-guess the decision, Renzen began to speak again, in a halting, stumbling fashion, trying to force the words out before he could clam up again. "I feel... _lost_. I feel like I don't know myself anymore. Before I met you I'd never been with -" His mouth suddenly stopped working and, unbidden, his cheeks flushed red.

But Sten finished his statement for him. "You'd never been with another man," he said, helpfully, his expression unreadable.

"YES," Renzen replied, somewhat relived. "We were together for one night and had our romp and that's nothing new for me but I've never woken up alone like that. I didn't expect that from you for some reason. I suppose it was my fault for making that assumption." He looked down at the swirling grain of the table to avoid Sten's gaze, clenching his hands together.

A soft sigh came from the Cacturne. "Well look," he began slowly, "I get where you're coming from. But don't you have someone else to help you work this out? I can't be the only person you know, right?"

When the hunter shook his head again, Sten gave another sigh. "Look, if it'll make you feel better, you're welcome to come over to my place if you need someone to talk to about all this. Alright? Just don't come find me at work again," he finished with a half-hearted chuckle.

Renzen glanced up to find a small smile on Sten's face. "Thanks," he said, just as a waiter came by with their drinks. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

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><p><span>Characters by order of appearance:<span>

Renzen Krok, the Krookodile Essendran - Akai Shi-Koret

Sten, the Cacturne Essendran - Akai Shi-Koret (created by Kenocka)


End file.
